The typical method of ingressing and egressing from the cockpit or flight station of an aircraft, particularly a single or two-seater fighter aircraft, is to open the canopy and climb out. Usually the canopy is pivoted from a point behind the pilot, such as on the McDonald Douglas F4 fighter, or from the side as in the case of the Lockheed Corporation F-104 Fighter, or the canopy is slid back on rails as in many older WW II fighter aircraft. But no prior art system provided for automatic ingress and egress from the cockpit.
One of the problems with opening canopy ingress and egress systems is that the cockpit or flight station is at a considerable height above the ground and, thus, a ladder is required to reach the flight station. The ladder is typically ground support equipment. Additional ground support equipment is often necessary for ground crew personnel to assist the pilot get properly installed.
However, many fighter aircraft are designed to operate from "unprepared fields" where ground support equipment may not be readily available. Thus, sometimes the ladder is designed to be stored on board the aircraft and is manually or automatically extended when required. Another approach is to incorporate flush mounted steps and hand holds on the side of the aircraft. These are typically recesses with spring-loaded covers.
While having the ladder incorporated into the aircraft or the use of flush mounted foot and hand holds eliminates the problem of providing ground support equipment it creates another problem. On future aircraft, the number of access panels or hatches will have to be kept to a minimum in order to provide a smooth and continuous external contour. An additional requirement will be to integrate the canopy structure into the fuselage. Thus such systems should be avoided, if possible. Furthermore, it will be extremely desirable to maintain the environmental integrity of the flight station while the aircraft is on the ground. Such integrity could not be maintained if the canopy had to be opened every time the pilot ingressed and egressed from the aircraft.
Thus, a primary object of the subject invention is to provide a system for ingressing and egressing a crew member from the flight station of an aircraft.
Another primary object of the subject invention is to provide a system for ingressing and egressing a crew member from the flight station of an aircraft having a canopy without requiring the opening thereof.
A further object of the subject invention is to provide a system for automatically ingressing and egressing a crew member from the flight station of an aircraft.
A still further object of the subject invention is to provide a system for ingressing and egressing a crew member through the landing gear wheel well of an aircraft, thus limiting the number of external hatches or doors.
An additional object of the subject invention is to provide a system for ingressing and egressing a crew member from the flight station of an aircraft without unduly affecting the environmental integrity of the flight station.